


Somewhere Only We Know

by Amikotsu



Category: Naruto
Genre: Best Friends, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Humor, Ghosts, KakaObi Week 2020, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Psychological Trauma, Therapy, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:34:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22857868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amikotsu/pseuds/Amikotsu
Summary: Obito died at Kannabi, so the Obito following Kakashi around had to be a ghost. Kakashi saw ghosts. As if his life weren't crazy enough, he saw a little ghost boy. Kakashi built a life with Obito, so what happens when the ghost of his former teammate finally moves on?
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Shisui, Hatake Kakashi & Yamato | Tenzou, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito
Comments: 6
Kudos: 126
Collections: KakaObi Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Ghosts
> 
> Tip: Pay attention to what Obito knows and you'll understand the story a little better.

He blocked the attack with his tanto and quickly attacked with the kunai in his left hand. The blade broke through the mask and through half of the man's face, cutting from the edge of the man's cheek down to split open his mouth. Blood poured from the injury, and the man instantly pulled back, struggling to catch the pieces of his mask while also stopping the blood flow. The preteen at Kakashi's back urged him to end it, to kill the man and call the mission a success, and Kakashi wanted nothing more than to end the fight and complete his mission. Kakashi slit the man's throat and blood spurted from the wound, staining Kakashi's ANBU armor. As the Kiri shinobi fell to the ground, blood still flowing from the slash to his jugular, Kakashi flicked his wrist to fling blood from the edge of his tanto. He might have been twenty, but the man should have never underestimated him. He was an ANBU captain for a reason. Kakashi rooted around in the man's pockets for any sign of the location of the scroll stolen from the village, but he found nothing. He kicked the corpse away from him and surveyed his surroundings. He'd sent his team away and acted as the diversion, and he'd killed the team of shinobi pursuing them. He only hoped they had better luck recovering the stolen scroll.

Obito stooped down next to the corpse and leaned in to see the damage, then he looked up at Kakashi and grinned, giving a thumbs up. The kid went almost everywhere with Kakashi, still eleven years old, still looking as if he hadn't been crushed by rocks and left to die a slow, agonizing death. Kakashi reached out to ruffle Obito's messy hair, giving the boy one affection pat before he put his kunai away and sheathed his tanto. 

"Let's go meet up with your team!" Obito grinned at him and gave him a shove in the direction of his teammates. Their last known location was on a cliffside several kilometers back, which meant a trek through the dark forest. "You're tired, I know, but you gotta keep up," Obito said, surprisingly keeping up with Kakashi.

Ghosts operated with different rules. He could touch Obito. He could hear Obito. He could see Obito. No one else recognized Obito's presence in any sense. Kakashi had quickly learned not to bring up seeing Obito. He still had mandatory therapy sessions where the old Yamanaka tried to force him to admit to still seeing Obito. Obito sat in on the sessions and coached Kakashi along, encouraging him to deceive the man and everyone around him. And it was worth it, because he had Obito in his life again. A better shinobi, Kakashi fought to protect his comrades, often at the threat of his own demise. Kakashi chased death. There was nothing sane about his choices when concerning his own physical and mental health. But he had Obito. Despite his therapist telling him that he seemed lonely, he denied the fact, because how could he be lonely when he had Obito? Obito in the morning; Obito at night.

With his teammates around, he knew not to address Obito, not to look at Obito, not to touch Obito, because those were warning signs of a deeper mental problem, and his old teammates had reported him once, which led to the mandatory therapy sessions. All of those teammates had been replaced by Tenzo, Itachi, and Shisui. He had Owl, Weasel, and Cat to protect, when his former teammates had abandoned him. Apparently, crumbling mental stability equaled a threat to their own lives. What a crock of shit.

Kakashi found the rest of Team Ro in a small village located below the cliffside. He descended the cliffside, Obito doing the same on his right side, and went to find the other members of Team Ro. He found them in a barn, located on the edge of the village. They'd just finished sealing the last body into a scroll, meaning they'd encountered fewer Kiri nin. Kakashi had used all of his corpse scrolls. Shisui had the large forbidden scroll on his back and seemed perfectly fine carrying it, while Tenzo had tucked all of the body scrolls in the pouch on his back. At one time, they'd had a medic, but she'd died several missions back, and Kakashi hadn't run across a new recruit that met his high standards.

"Any injuries?" Kakashi addressed them all while Obito began to look them over, one by one. Obito pointed at Shisui's thigh, and Kakashi caught the bloody bandages wrapped around the injury. "Cat?"

"I'm fine. It's deep, but it doesn't affect mobility. Our team nurse took care of it," Shisui teased, reaching out to tug on Itachi's ponytail. Itachi elbowed him hard and Shisui wheezed and doubled over. "Sorry. Not a nurse," Shisui managed to get out.

"We killed everyone in pursuit. It's a clean getaway," Tenzo informed Kakashi. Kakashi nodded, then he motioned for them to move out. They slipped out of the barn and became shadows again.

That's all Kakashi was, in the end, a shifting, shapeless shadow that thrived in the cover of night, constantly chasing fellow shadows. Kakashi kept the pace slow to accommodate Shisui, because Obito told him when the teen was slowing down. Kakashi signed for Tenzo to take point, then he fell back to move alongside Shisui. The boy was fourteen, but he wasn't the youngest member on the team; the youngest member of the team was Itachi, at eleven years old. Shisui almost missed a branch, but Obito shouted Kakashi's name and Kakashi grabbed Shisui's forearm. Without prompt, Kakashi took the large scroll from Shisui's back and secured it on himself. He shoved Shisui in the direction of Itachi, who helped him for the remainder of the journey. A day and a half later, when they saw Konoha in the distance, they all sighed in relief.

"Can you make it through reporting in?" 

Kakashi lowered his voice when he addressed Shisui. Instead of a verbal response, the teen nodded. Obito played a balancing act on the rooftops they passed along, shouting for Kakashi to watch him beat everyone to the tower. In the end, Obito lost. With the room clear of other teams, Kakashi knocked twice on the window, then slipped into the room, his team following. They bowed to the Hokage until Hiruzen told them to rest. Kakashi removed the forbidden scroll from his back and placed it on the man's desk. Hiruzen eyed the scroll for a moment, as if he were checking it over, then he nodded at them.

"Anything to report?" Hiruzen prepared a pipe while he waited.

"We engaged with teams of Kirigakure shinobi. We dispatched the enemies. We were unable to take the traitor alive. He blew himself up with an explosive tag." Kakashi had a tone of indifference, as if he hadn't fought most of the enemies on his own, as if he hadn't pulled off the craziest plan in the past month.

"We can confirm it," Shisui said, knowing that it sounded suspicious. Hiruzen nodded at him.

"Anyone who came into contact with the scroll is dead?" Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe and Kakashi gave a firm nod.

"Hell yeah," Obito added, taking a seat on the edge of Hiruzen's desk. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Obito, the expression hidden by his mask. Obito slowly slid off the desk, so Kakashi let his eyes drift back to the Hokage.

"A successful mission. I want full reports from all of you by this time tomorrow. Dismissed," Hiruzen smiled, motioning for them to go. The man was too nice for his own good. Kakashi still remembered Danzo's failed assassination of the man.

The team paused in the office before they retreated to their assigned locker room in ANBU headquarters. Inside the safety of their locker room, they removed their masks and stuck them in their lockers. The doors were all sealed, only opening with blood from assigned team members, and Kakashi honestly trusted them all, even Tenzo. Tenzo and Itachi hit the showers first, while Kakashi lingered on the room's long bench, waiting for Shisui to unwind the bandages and tug down his pants. There was a nice slice through the fabric and Kakashi saw the deep wound Itachi had expertly dressed. Shisui needed the hospital more than a shower, but the teen was stubborn, insisting the wound was a flesh wound, even though Kakashi gave him a blank look. Only Tenzo pulled off a scary look that sent Shisui running. Kakashi finally relented.

"You're going to do what you want anyway," Kakashi said, tossing Shisui a clean towel. 

Shisui gave him a sparkling smile, then darted off for the showers. Kakashi slowly changed out of his bloody attire and tossed it all into a bag he kept in his locker. After years in ANBU, he knew how to get blood out of almost everything. Thanks to his dad, he knew how to get blood off an untreated hardwood floor too. Obito sat down next to Kakashi and stared into the bag on Kakashi's other side. 

"Are you alright? You're really quiet," Obito frowned, nudging Kakashi's arm. "If it's about those Kiri jerks, they deserved it. After what they did to you, they don't deserve another thought, alright?" Kakashi shook his head.

He opened his mouth to reply, remembered where he was, and quickly closed it. He just shook his head again. Changed into his regular jonin attire, Kakashi called a quick goodbye to his team, grabbed his bag, and left. He took his time going home. The sun had gone down hours ago, so the streets were mostly empty. Obito walked along in front of him, back facing the way they were going -- Obito was suddenly the king of walking backwards. Obito didn't talk to him while they were on the streets, and Obito didn't talk to him in the downstairs lobby of his building. Obito waited for Kakashi to enter into his apartment and close and lock the door behind him. Kakashi dropped his bag near the door and went for the kitchen first, where he opened his fridge and searched around for something to drink.

"Don't drink the milk. It's expired," Obito warned him. Kakashi gave him a weird look, as if to say who would be stupid enough to drink expired milk. "There's some apple juice in the back. It's still good."

"You can't eat or drink and you memorized the contents of my refrigerator," Kakashi said, taking the bottle of apple juice from the fridge. Kakashi removed the cap and drank straight from the container. He didn't see the need in dirtying a glass. "To answer your question," he said, pausing between drinks, "I have a therapy session tomorrow."

"And that guy is going to ask _a lot_ of questions about me again. You know what to say. You haven't had anymore _episodes_. You're bonding well with your team. No disciplinary actions, no failed missions. He's got nothing," Obito said, hopping up onto the counter. Kakashi swatted his leg until he sighed and jumped down.

"I'd rather have questions about Rin," Kakashi admitted, staring down into the bottle of apple juice. Obito sucked in a sharp breath and looked away. "I'm supposed to think positive and get lots of sunlight, like that's going to stop the night terrors."

"Hey, I'm still here. You've got me!" Obito grinned and slapped Kakashi's stomach, causing Kakashi to wince. "Wow. You're strong. Maybe you should increase your exercise again. That helped before," Obito suggested, seeming unsure. Kakashi ruffled his hair again.

"I think that's a good idea. I'm ahead of Gai in our competition," Kakashi said, absently patting Obito's head. Obito muttered about not being a dog, and the light went on. "I am not summoning my ninken for a puppy pile again. They drooled all over my bedding and ate all of my food," Kakashi said, knocking Obito over the head.

"Fine, bastard, don't enjoy the companionship associated with having the baddest summons in the entire village."

"Your compliments aren't going to get a puppy pile, you rude little boy," Kakashi smirked, turning to put the bottle of juice back in the fridge. 

Even though the clock was pushing ten at night, Kakashi collected his bag and dragged it into the bathroom to unpack. He had blood on his shirt, his armor, and his pants, so he put the plug in the tub and filled it with cold water. He kept laundry detergent in the cabinet under the sink, but he preferred peroxide or white vinegar. As he scrubbed the fabric, Obito leaned against the sink and asked him questions about the process of removing dry blood from fabric. 

"You didn't have that problem," Kakashi said, glancing over his shoulder at Obito. Obito frowned, but nodded. Obito had died too young. "I would have taught you," Kakashi added, focusing on lightly scrubbing, always rinsing. 

"You were a real bastard. You wouldn't have taught me anything. You're better now. I like you now," Obito smiled, hugging Kakashi's back. Kakashi lightly elbowed Obito in the gut to break the monkey's hold. "After this, you need some real food, and then you should sleep."

"Where do you go when I sleep?" Kakashi had never asked before, not in their years together. Obito requested he leave the television on at a low volume, but other than that, Kakashi didn't know what the boy did.

"I go away," Obito shrugged. He didn't seem to mind the fact that he didn't answer at all. Kakashi's harsh glare had him stumbling over his words in a hurried response. "I go and wait for you at the memorial stone. We always meet there, every morning, when we aren't on missions," Obito admitted, smiling.

"We," Kakashi absently replied, hanging onto that word. He needed to hear that word to keep going. He didn't know what he would do without Obito. Just the thought had his hands shaking.

"I'm here," Obito quietly said, resting a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. They didn't talk about the times Kakashi woke up screaming or crying or fighting shinobi who weren't really there. They didn't talk about Kakashi's dependency on the ghost of his long-dead teammate. They didn't talk about the fact that Kakashi had loved him.


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi sat at his desk and stared down at the blank form. Obito had retreated for the night, content to watch television in the front room, rather than invade Kakashi's bedroom and distract him for hours on end discussing the meaning of life. Who knew Obito was so damn deep? Kakashi leaned forward, unlatched the windows and pushed them open, letting in the cool breeze. It was one o'clock in the morning, and if it weren't for the few lights he picked out several blocks over, he might have believed he was the only person in the village still unfortunate enough to be awake. It was insomnia, and he had a love-hate relationship with the disorder. He had trouble falling asleep and trouble staying asleep, thanks to the night terrors, so he spent his time trying to tire himself out so he could fall into a dreamless sleep. Sometimes it worked; other times, it didn't. He moved his gaze from the village outside of his window to his blank mission form. He didn't want to admit that he'd pulled another crazy stunt, so he chose to skip over the finer details. He hoped that his teammates would somehow glorify his insane decision to play distraction. 

By the time he finished his report, he dropped the pencil on the desk and quickly closed the windows. He was tired, for a change, so he crawled into his bed and tugged the covers up to his chin. And he stared out into his dark room, taking in the faint sound of the television. He thought he heard footsteps traveling through the apartment, so he reached for the pouch of kunai hanging from his headboard. Obito poked his head into the room though, so he sighed and motioned Obito over. The boy took a seat at the bottom of Kakashi's bed and leaned back against the wall.

"No questions. No stories. I'm tired," Kakashi informed the boy. Obito made a noise and crossed his legs at his ankles. "Aren't you usually the cheerful one?"

"Have you ever thought about what might happen if I don't meet you in the mornings?"

"You mean if you left?"

"I don't know how long I'll be here. I want you to be ok."

Kakashi shifted around so he leaned back on his elbows to see Obito at the end of his bed. The boy was frowning, reaching up to toy with his orange goggles. Kakashi tried to think of a world without the bit of Obito he had, but he didn't like those thoughts. He chased them away with training; he chased them away when it was late at night and all he had were the same thoughts on repeat. He wasn't ok -- he knew he wasn't ok -- but Obito made everything better; Obito had always made everything better. But what about when he turned twenty-five or thirty or fifty? What kind of life would he have if his only source of real joy was the ghost of an eleven-year-old boy? Kakashi didn't know what to say. He lay back in his bed and tried to focus on the feel of his heart beating in his chest.

"I'll be there. I promise. I'll be there," Obito said, nudging a hand against Kakashi's foot. "Don't panic," Obito added. 

Kakashi turned onto his side and waited for sleep to claim him. He fell asleep to the sound of Obito's chattering, which sounded suspiciously like the television. When he woke up, he woke up at eight o'clock, as usual, and he was alone. He threw his blankets off, got out of bed, and spent some time making his bed, tucking the corners just so. Everything needed order in home life. He lived with chaos outside of the village. His shower was brief, as he'd showered the night before. He had eggs with veggies and rice for breakfast and stayed in the home long enough to enjoy two cups of coffee, then he left to go to the memorial stone. And Obito was there, sitting with his back resting against the memorial stone. Obito perked up and waved at him, so he smiled, the only response he wanted to risk, given the fact that anyone could stumble across them. Hands stuffed in his pockets, head bowed, Kakashi paid his respects to the lost. The moment for silence and thoughts passed, so he focused on picking out names on the memorial stone. Nohara Rin. Uchiha Obito. Namikaze Minato. Uzumaki Kushina. They deserved their own separate memorial, one made just for them, for them and Kakashi, the one they'd left behind. 

"What time is your session today?"

Kakashi tapped out the time on his wrist and Obito nodded. They had two more hours before they had to report to therapy, and Kakashi chose to spend every minute with the memorial stone. Sometimes, he took flowers, but most of the time, he had nothing to offer but prayers and apologies. They were dead. Flowers didn't matter to the dead. Kakashi still had Rin's hitai-ate and Obito's cracked goggles and memories of all the lessons Minato and Kushina had taught him, from shinobi skills to life skills. He'd never appreciated them enough, and it was his own fault. After the memorial stone, Kakashi went to visit his father's grave, where he picked the weeds and brushed off the engraved words, trying to bring a shine out. He'd only been visiting the grave for a year. Obito had helped him finally process his father's death. Together, they'd unpacked that heavy burden.

"What would you say to me, if you could talk to me out loud? What would you say to the memorial stone?" Obito looked down at Sakumo's grave, then up at Kakashi's face. "Talk to me."

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said, saying the same words that looped over and over in his mind. Obito sat down and brought both knees up to his chest, quietly waiting for Kakashi to continue. "I'm sorry I didn't treat you right. I'm sorry we, I'm sorry I had to leave you. If it weren't for me, you'd be here, and I'll live with that for the rest of my life. You meant a lot to me -- you still mean a lot to me -- and I wish you could be here. I wish everyone could see you. I want to talk to you so much, even when there's nothing to say, and I know I'll spend the rest of my life visiting graves, most days starting the same exact way."

Obito lifted one arm and pointed over Kakashi's shoulder, so Kakashi looked up into the tree. He didn't see anyone there, but he still walked over to it, stood under it, and glanced up at the branches. There had been a moment when he thought he'd felt someone, but he wrote it off as Obito being weird. He turned back to Obito and shrugged his shoulders.

"Time for my session," Kakashi said, voice lacking enthusiasm. Obito got up and fell in step beside him. "I'm only twenty minutes late today."

"We'll do better next time! Tell him about the black cat again. He _really_ hates that one," Obito suggested, grinning up at him. His fingers twitched, showing he wanted to give Obito a playful shove, but he remembered himself and kept walking.

Yamanaka Shoichi was a no-nonsense kind of man. Shoichi went by the books and expected Kakashi to work on himself outside of sessions. Joke's on him, Kakashi didn't work on shit. Twenty minutes late, Kakashi knocked on the door to his quaint office and poked his head into the room. Shoichi glared at him with such intensity that Kakashi decided to appear apologetic. Obito rushed in behind him and took a seat on the couch, patiently waiting for him to sit down. Shoichi pointed his pencil at the couch, then began tapping it against his notepad. Kakashi had no idea what the man wrote, and he had a feeling he didn't want to know. They started with pleasantries, both of them asking well-being questions, and then Shoichi decided to grasp control of the situation and end the charade.

"Have you had any other hallucinations?"

"Isn't our reality one big case of hallucinations?"

"Cut the crap and answer the question," Shoichi said, entirely unimpressed with him. Kakashi frowned and moved toward the edge of the couch, showing that he wasn't relaxed in any way. "These sessions are mandatory," Shoichi reminded him.

"No, I haven't had any other hallucinations. I've been completing my missions and I've been on my best behavior," Kakashi said, shrugging a shoulder. Shoichi made a quick note on his notepad. "I've been taking the vitamins the doctor prescribed. I've been training. What more do you want?"

"Tell him you saw a talking cat -- no, tell him it was a dragon in drag. You get it?" Obito burst into laughter, holding onto his stomach as if the force actually hurt him. Kakashi almost looked his way. Almost.

"Why are you smiling?"

Fuck.

Kakashi sighed and ran his right hand along the right side of his face. Obito slapped a palm over his mouth and looked at Kakashi with fear and regret in his eyes. Kakashi honestly didn't know what to say. He went through bullshit excuses and finally decided to go with the truth.

"I thought I might tell you I saw a dragon in drag just down the street."

"Hilarious, Hatake. Real hilarious."

"I've been visiting the memorial stone and my father's grave a lot. I think it's helping to take the edge off," Kakashi quietly admitted, deciding to share the fact with the man. Shoichi looked down at the notepad, but didn't make any notes. "I just thought, is this how I'm going to spend the rest of my life?"

"How many times can you mourn one person, Kakashi?" Shoichi looked at him, really looked at him, and he didn't have to think of an answer. The word easily fell from his lips.

"Endlessly."

Obito was unusually quiet after the session, probably because Shoichi focused solely on Obito. Kakashi had proven, multiple times, that any real attention to Rin or Sakumo would result in a slamming door, mandatory sessions be damned. Obito always felt bad, and Kakashi would have suggested food, specifically dango, but Obito couldn't eat, and Kakashi didn't like sweets. Halfway home, Obito turned and took off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Startled, Kakashi collected himself and took off after the kid. Obito raced toward a very familiar training ground and Kakashi could have strangled him. Obito, far too proud, pointed to Gai. Gai was doing push-ups with one hand, the other arm bent behind his back. Kakashi heard the counting. One thousand and one. One thousand and two. Kakashi felt exhausted just listening to him count.

"He makes you feel better too. Now go kick his ass and make it twenty to seventeen!"

"I hate you so much right -- Yo." Kakashi cut himself off when Gai finally noticed him. Gai jumped to his feet and greeted Kakashi with an overenthusiastic wave. "Are you in the mood for a friendly competition?" Immediately, little flames of excitement filled Gai's eyes.

"Haha! Yes! Let us both ignite our flames of youth! What kind of competition did you have in mind, my eternal rival?"

"How about we find a couple of friends and have them watch us run around the village?"

"A good suggestion, but let's make this a true challenge. We will strap a person to our backs and do ten laps -- one hundred laps -- around the village!"

"Fine. Ten laps. I know just the friends," Kakashi eye smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

On the eighth lap, Shisui was openly shouting for someone to help him, which only inspired Tenzo to begin begging. Kakashi lightly slapped Shisui's head to shut the teen up, then took the lead over Gai and Tenzo. Tenzo kept bouncing around and, at some point, he'd started openly weeping. Obito, racing along at Kakashi's side, cackled like a madman, and that had Kakashi smiling, truly smiling, for the first time in days. Obito knew exactly how to make him smile. In the end, Kakashi won the race, and Gai, such a good sport, claimed that he would run one hundred laps around the village. By that point, Tenzo had squirmed around enough to get a kunai and cut the ropes. He glared at Kakashi and Gai, then turned and ran away. Shisui rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks stained red, because beautiful women were laughing at them.

"A meal then, my treat! Anything you'd like, for being such a good sport," Gai said, slapping Shisui on the back. Shisui tapped his chin in thought, and Kakashi knew, by that point, that Shisui had given in to his embarrassment.

"I could go for some barbeque," Shisui began, but he stopped and motioned for Gai to wait, "but I think I want sweets. Every kind of dessert this village has. I'm so damn full of youth, aren't I?" Gai embraced Shisui and Shisui grinned at Kakashi, an evil glint in his eye.

"I think that sounds fine," Kakashi said, maintaining eye contact with Shisui. The boy frowned. Challenge accepted. 

As they walked to a sweets shop in the food district, Shisui and Gai talked about ways to increase their speed, but Kakashi paid more attention to Obito. Obito was telling Kakashi all the highlights of the race, clearly still amused over the whole thing. He slapped Kakashi's hand as their hands brushed, as close as they could get to a high five. After the eating contest at the sweets shop, Kakashi waved goodbye to his friends and left for the bookshop. On the way, he noticed something very peculiar about Obito. The kid faded in and out, flickering like a dying lightbulb. In the safety of the empty aisles of the bookshop, Kakashi rested a hand atop Obito's head, only for his touch to pass right through the boy, as if Obito wasn't there at all. Both of them seemed bothered by the fact, Obito voicing as much, but Kakashi had no answers. Kakashi turned to the bookshelf to collect a particularly interesting romance novel, and when he turned back, Obito was gone. He fumbled with the book for a moment before it fell to the floor. The book connected with the floor with a _thump_.

"Is something wrong, sir?" 

The owner peered down the aisle at him and he quickly walked to the exit, leaving the bewildered woman to stare at the spot where he once stood. He checked his apartment first, but the television was still off and the boy simply wasn't there. Kakashi tore his apartment apart, trying and failing to find his friend. Panicked, he left his apartment and jogged through the village to the training grounds, unapologetic about the people he pushed aside, the people complaining, telling him to slow down. He crossed the grass to reach the memorial stone, and he fell to his knees. He embraced Obito, crushing the boy to himself, and he didn't care if people saw him or not. They thought him mad, and maybe he was, but he had Obito, and he wanted Obito. Obito ran his fingers through Kakashi's hair.

"I'm sorry, Bakashi. I'm so sorry. I can't stay here anymore," Obito whispered, finally embracing Kakashi. It was awkward, because of the height differences, but neither of them cared. "There's someone here, Kakashi. There's someone watching us."

"Let them watch. Let them see me hugging thin air. I want you to stay. I need you, Obito. I, I don't know what I'm going to do without you. I'm sorry," Kakashi said, words rushed, forced. "Obito," Kakashi whispered, hugging Obito, even as the boy faded away.

Obito kissed his forehead and hugged him one last time, and then he was gone, leaving Kakashi to embrace thin air, leaving him to sob. Shoulders shaking, tears falling from his eyes, Kakashi took handfuls of grass and tugged and tugged, throwing the pieces everywhere, as if he were searching for a way to find the boy, the way to dig deep enough into the earth that he would uncover his friend. He didn't find Obito. He found ants and a stray ladybug and memories and memories. He didn't care that he heard footsteps in the grass, didn't care that the person touched his shoulder. How long had it been since someone touched him that way? He gripped the hand, squeezing to show that he was still there, both for the person's benefit and his own. Obito had been so real to him; Obito had been with him for so many years, and maybe it was too many years. 

"It's alright," Obito said, squeezing Kakashi's hand. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I got lost on the road of life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case people missed it...
> 
> So throughout the story, Kakashi was hallucinating and everything that Obito knew, Kakashi already knew. Obito couldn't interact with outside objects. He couldn't turn on the television. He couldn't open the fridge. But he knew what was in the fridge. Obito wasn't a ghost at all. It was always Kakashi.


End file.
